It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas....Is Over?

Wow! That's all I could keep saying as I put away our holiday decorations this year. It seemed like we had just put them out and I was resolving, yet again, to really slow down and enjoy this Christmas season. While I certainly did enjoy the holidays, they went by really fast and I can't say that I ever slowed down. We managed to fit quite a bit in during the month of December including Jill's 7th birthday, a trip to Symphony Hall to see the Nutcracker, a visit to the Botanical Gardens, a road trip to Long Beach for a wedding, a run up the mountain to play in the snow and visit relatives, Christmas Eve at my sister's home and oh yes, Christmas! It was a whirlwind of a good time!

Our month kicked off as it as for the past seven years with Jilly's birthday. This year it was a sleepover with, count em', 10 little girls. If you're thinking it, I heard it a million times: Are you crazy?

The answer is yes, but it was so worth one night of chaos.

We decorated cookies, had makeovers (with lots & lots of red lipstick!), watched movies, ate way too much and stayed up way too late. This year was special as Jill requested that her friends make donations to Feed My Starving Children rather than bring gifts. Jilly was able to collect almost $100 which helped in our church's effort to feed over one million hungry children across the world.

The week before Christmas I traveled to Long Beach with my mother and uncle to attend my cousin's wedding. This was a lovely break with two people I always have a great time with and with whom I laugh a lot! We spent a day and a half just sitting on the beach trying to figure out a way to rearrange our lives so we could do so everyday. Alas, we came up with nothing and were forced to return to our normal routines. Granted my return to 65 degrees and sunny was a little easier than my uncle's return to sub-zero temperatues and blizzards in Omaha.

Good times, good times...

Finally, it was Christmas. Ah yes, the real reason for the season. Christmas Eve was spent at my sister, Carrie's home. It was a packed house with both my sisters, their fiancees, my mother and step father as well as extended family - including 11 children. But isn't that how Christmas is supposed to be? Loud, crowded, chaotic...It was perfect, it was great. It really was what a family holiday should be - full of laughter, love, retelling of embarrassing stories and the subsequent ridicule.

Christmas morning: Happy Birthday Jesus! This year, despite the rest of my family being up at 5:00 am, I was permitted to sleep until 7:00 am. Merry Christmas to me! Spoiler Alert:

It does help that the kids don't believe in Santa. No more coming in at 2:00 am with claims of having heard reindeer on the roof or checking every hour to see if he's been there yet. Anyway, we started our morning as is tradition in our home, by reading our letters to Jesus and telling Him what our birthday gift to Him will be this year. Next, of course came the stockings and tearing through hours of wrapping in about 7.4 minutes. We saved the big gift for last: a Wii, complete with Rock Band.

This was a gift from us and Erik's dad and step mom.

As you can see, it was well received. The awesome part of giving this gift was that the girls never asked for one or had any idea they were getting one. We have already had some great family time playing the sports and Rock Band and we have confirmed that none of us have any real future in the music industry.

Ok, I have to take time to brag on my husband. In the midst of exchanging the usual small gifts we always do on Christmas, i.e. cologne, DVDs, shirts, I was handed a box to open. In the box was a a scrapbook, handmade over the past month by Erik. On each page was the 3:11 scripture from every book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. He even found clip art of corresponding art work for each and every scripture. For those of you out of the loop: 311 is my number. It seems to pop up for me everywhere from when I look at a clock to the change I get back to birthdays of relatives. I once told Erik that it comes up for me so often I use it as an opportunity to remember that God is looking over me and to thank Him for all of my blessings. In fact, in 1995 Erik told me to pick the day I would marry him. We had only been dating 6 months so, not thinking much of it, I picked March 11. We were married two years later on March 15 because March 11 did not fall on a weekend...Thank you, Erik.

On New Year's Eve we took the girls to play in the snow. It was a last minute decision so we were not as prepared with snow clothes as we should have been, but a good time was had by all. Despite froze toes we managed a decent snowball fight and a solid attempt at a snowman.

And so, that brings 2009 to a close. Looking back over a year, it never turns out the way I thought it would. I can say, though, it always turns out better than I thought. Thank goodness I'm not in charge in my life! May God Bless you all this year and may you have another year full of cherished memories.

PS Happy Birthday Bella. Our girl was 3 on January 3.

In His Service,